OkCupid is the best site on the interweb

If I haven’t already gone swoony-eyed over the dating site, okcupid.com in front of you, just give me time. I love them not only because I meet my Mr. Smoochy there, but because they do in such a damn geeky smart way. The latest: MyBestFace. It lets you upload several pictures of yourself and be rated on which one makes you the most attractive to the target market. You guessed it, it’s an amazing experience.

Step 3 ) Now you must rate 100 users before you get your report. Don’t worry, it’ll only take a second.

Step 4 ) Wait. You’re report will be emailed to you when it’s ready.

This morning, I awoke to find a freshly pressed report waiting on me. The results were very insightful and clear. First, it told exactly which photos did well and who liked them. This was key, because of the two top performing pictures, the age groups of the guys who chose them were exactly opposite. If I wanted to attract guys under 30, the “MySpace shot” was clearly the way to go. It was the top performer overall. Since my goal is guys older than cough my 30 years, I should go with the goofy shot of me chowing down on some Mexican corn. (Note: never in a million years would’ve thought that was the best shot of me.)

So why should you care about some dating site?

They’re doing it right. They know who their core audience is and what their concerns are. They’re providing amazingly compelling experiences. I’ve kept my account up just so I can keep playing with their cool tools!

Provide a tool that gives your users value that gets to the core of what you’re doing.

Pay to play: They require you to rate users to get your report.

The tool has just the right amount of information to give value without overwhelming.

It’s super fun.

Still curious? Check out my full report. Yes, the pic of me with a black eye did better than the zany smile.

This project is by Crystal Beasley a.k.a. @crystaldbeasley. I have a lifelong fascination with behavior and ritual, especially those where the participants reach some trance-like state. I experienced this firsthand in the form of speaking in tongues as a member of a fundamentalist church in the American South.